WE MUST TACKLE 'UNCONTROLLABLE' YOUTHS

A CALL has gone out to clampdown on drunken revellers and vandals who are trashing parts of Finchampstead.

Evendons councillor Denis Morgan says young people under the influence of alcohol must "behave themselves".

He claims they are responsible for smashing panes of glass in public telephone kiosks and other acts of mindless vandalism.

He said: "There are smashed phone boxes everywhere.

"There's one up at Gowrings on Finchampstead Road and one at the end of Kiln Ride and one on Tangley Drive.

"We are living in an uncontrolled society.

"Young people go off and get drunk and on the way back from the pub they go off and do this vandalism.

"All the ‘For Sale' signs along Finchampstead Road are either pulled down or broken.

"These young people are growing up and must behave in a responsible, adult way."

Finchampstead resident Seth Edwards, who lives in Pine Drive, says the telephone booths at Nine Mile Ride and California Country Park are both smashed and blames the damage on "thugs".

He said: "Why should BT be expected to repair these kiosks — it would be far cheaper to remove them.

"In these days when even schoolchildren have mobile phones, why should we have a network of telephone kiosks? Because there are some who don't have, or cannot afford, mobile phones, and need the service they provide.

"More importantly, there are attacks, emergencies and accidents, when mobile phones are not available, and we, yes we — any or all of us — rely upon the nearest telephone kiosk to summon aid.

"Vandalism has a cost, not just that of repair, but also the inevitable diminution of the fabric of our lives."